asian films...

[caliope]

i've really been enjoying asian films lately...

in the past few weeks i've watched these films (some of them repeatedly)...

- all the yasujiro ozu films the library has (an autumn afternoon, equinox flower, and tokyo story which i thought was the best by far. after watching alll three they all had a sort of sameness in them, bbut tokyo story seemed to stand  out.)

- black rain, and the eel (The name of the director escapes me, i read so many great reviews of the eel, and i did really enjoy it...but i think i missed something...it seemed a little sloppy, and incohesive. black  rain was really powerful. the sort of film they should make high school kids watch rather than all revolutionary war tales, and english literature adaptations i remeber having to sit through.)

- the vertical ray of the sun. i kept this one on a loop in my dvd player. so fucking beautiful. and lou reed's music has never been used so perfectly! i need to get my hands on the scent of green papaya.

- in the mood for love. it's a great great dvd! and also, very beautiful. i likked it a lot. but i still like chungking  express better. whats another good wong kar wai film?

- raise the red lantern, and red sourghum. i didn't like either of these that much.

there are some others i've seen recently that i can't remember. but i just was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on any of these. or if they had any recommendations based on them.

thanks.

[budgie]

I saw a nice little Chinese film on tv the other night, called either Elephant and Fish or Fish and Elephant. China's first lesbian film (2001) apparently. All non-actors, obviously low budget, very intelligent and deceptively simple. If you can find it see it.

I've always championed In The Mood For Love. Beautiful remake of Brief Encounter. God the leads are gorgeous! And personally I loved Raise the Red Lantern and Red Sorghum. Farewell My Concubine I found difficult (had to have a moment out of the room I remember) but is worth seeing.

Seek out Takeshi Kitano's movies: Hana Bi is a stunner. Very cool, black humour, visually amazing. Another Japanese film I was knocked out by was Kwaidan.

Oh, and Kurosawa of course...

[Tommy Both]

Seek out Takeshi Kitano's movies: Hana Bi is a stunner. Very cool, black humour, visually amazing.

& While you're at it, buy the soundtrack/score.. a recommendation.

[Rudie Obias]

i love wong kar-wai, he's one of my favorite filmmakers.  he had a huge impact on my life as a filmmaker as well.  he has a very godardian quality which i love.  other wong kar-wai films to check out:

FALLEN ANGEL (sorta the sequel to CHUNGKING EXPRESS)
HAPPY TOGETHER
DAYS OF BEING WILD (IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE is sorta the sequel of this film)
ASHES OF TIME

other asian cinema and filmmakers to check out:

ADRENALINE DRIVE by Shinobu Yaguchi
PERFECT BLUE by Satoshi Kon
WHAT TIME IS IT THERE? by Ming-liang Tsai
AUDITION by Takashi Miike
BATTLE ROYALE by Kinji Fukasaku
ATTACK THE GAS STATION by Juyuso Seubgyuksageun

i was also reading about this movement in japan with film aesthetic called the japanese new wave cinema.

check out these links:

http://www.artandculture.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/ACLive.woa/wa/movement?id=129

http://www.diabolikdvd.com/

*rudie*

[caliope]

OF COURSE KUROSAWA!

ack..i can't believe i didn't mention his films. i havent
watched them recently. buut they should be at the top of the list! too obvious to even think of i guess....anyway...

thanks for alll the suggestions...

battle royale has been impossible for me to find...and i see someone else made a thread about it, so i suppose i'm not alone.

may i ask what channel on television you saw the elephant and fish movie? (if you live in the u.s.a.) ....i'd like to keep an eye out for it.

i've seen adrenaline drive, i liked it a lot. but part of me kept thinking that if the same exact film was made in america i would think it was rubbish. i had to confront my foreign film snob demons.

i've also seen audition. it was ok. i sort of felt like i had seen the whole film before i even watched it though. just from the short synopsis i read on the dvd cover, and the picture on the front even. i don't know how to explain what i mean.

but thanks again...i've added the others to my list  

[Tommy Both]

Anyone seen the new TAKESHI KITANO film yet?
DOLLS http://office-kitano.co.jp/dolls/

I'm definately gonna check this one out at the Rotterdam Film Festival!!
KITANO IS THE MAN!!!!!!   - Alongside Takashi Miike; they are contemporary Japanse cinema in my eyes.... -
So, about Miike: anyone seen ICHI THE KILLER here? ? ?

[budgie]

Caliope ~

Sorry, I live in England, so you may never see Elephant and Fish, but hopefully.

Battle Royale is available as an expensive but seductively-packaged (silver metal box) Region 2 DVD (or a PAL video), if that's any use? It's excellent, but maybe only worth buying blind if you get Kitano (who's in it and wonderful). Very black, but hysterical. I doubt it will make your shores for a while yet.

Know what you mean about Audition, though I thought it had something interesting to say about Japanese male culture. But it wasn't scary or creepy.

Dolls was on during the London Film Festival, and I almost went... wish I had.  

[Jeremy Blackman]

Two that come to mind are "Iron Monkey"* and John Woo's "The Killer."

And who is that actor/director whose face is half paralyzed? I really liked one of his movies.. can't remember his name or the title.

*Who couldn't love a movie where a guy gets killed by a grape?

[budgie]

And who is that actor/director whose face is half paralyzed? I really liked one of his movies.. can't remember his name or the title.

I have a feeling that Beat Takeshi... could be wrong.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Beat Takeshi

Sweet Jesus, you're right!

And the movie was Sonantine... pretty good, though a little confusing.

Sigh.. thank you...

[Ravi]

The Asian Aesthetic

[foray]

The one Zhang Yimou film I truly enjoyed was "Not One Less". I didn't like Red Sorghum either.

I recommend "What Time Is It There?" by Tsai Ming-Liang.

foray

[SHAFTR]

[pete]

zhang yimou's best film is "to live".  not many movies are more soulful than it.  but also check out his buddies from the fifth generation movement, tien zhuangzhuang and chen kaige.
tsai mingliang is pretty good, but you know, he's sloooow of the Ozu order.  So is Hou HsiaoHsien--check out his films The Puppet Master and Shanghai Flowers.  I don't like his urban movies as much.

[evaderhead]

zhang yimou's best film is "to live".

true indeed!
I would like to recomment two chinese films from the so-called "sixth generation" directors:
Beijing Bicycle,by Wang Xiaoshuai
Platform,by Jia Zhangke

and japenese film All About Lily Chou-chou is SO GREAT! must see!